Each vowel can be pronounced either as "long"
or "short". A short vowel is always be followed by a double consonant (i.e. two similar
consonants, such as ll or tt). A long vowel is not.
For example, in Norwegian "it" will be pronounced as in 'eet', whereas "itt"
will be pronounced as english 'iht'.
The Norwegian vowels are pronounced in almost the same way as in German. There are three additional
vowels. æ (Æ), ø (Ø), and å (Å).
a
like 'a' in "father"
e
like 'e' in "better" (but like æ if it is followed
by an r)
i
like 'i' in "pin"
o (short)
like 'o' in "lord"
o (long)
like 'oo' in "spooky"
u
like 'oo' in "foot"
y
like 'i' in "pin" (but firmer; y doesn't correspond to any
sound in English. English speakers may have difficulty distinguishing Norwegian's i and y.)
æ
like 'a' in "hat"
ø
like 'u' in "burn"
å
like 'o' in "lord"
